young marriage

¹²Let no one despise your youth, but be an example among the faithful in word, in behavior, in charity, in faith, in chastity.

²²He who has found a good wife has found goodness, and he shall draw contentment from the Lord. He who expels a good wife expels goodness. But he who holds on to an adulteress is foolish and impious.

⁹But if they cannot restrain themselves, they should marry. For it is better to marry, than to be burned.

⁴Groom to Chorus: I bind you by oath, O daughters of Jerusalem, not to disturb or awaken the beloved, until she wills.

²²Wives should be submissive to their husbands, as to the Lord. ²³For the husband is the head of the wife, just as Christ is the head of the Church. He is the Savior of his body. ²⁴Therefore, just as the Church is subject to Christ, so also should wives be subject to their husbands in all things. ²⁵Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ also loved the Church and handed himself over for her, ²⁶so that he might sanctify her, washing her clean by water and the Word of life, ²⁷so that he might offer her to himself as a glorious Church, not having any spot or wrinkle or any such thing, so that she would be holy and immaculate.

³⁶But if any man considers himself to seem dishonorable, concerning a virgin who is of adult age, and so it ought to be, he may do as he wills. If he marries her, he does not sin. ³⁷But if he has decided firmly in his heart, and he does not have any obligation, but only the power of his free will, and if he has judged this in his heart, to let her remain a virgin, he does well. ³⁸And so, he who joins with his virgin in matrimony does well, and he who does not join with her does better.

¹⁴Do not choose to bear the yoke with unbelievers. For how can justice be a participant with iniquity? Or how can the fellowship of light be a participant with darkness?

⁴And he said to them in response, “Have you not read that he who made man from the beginning, made them male and female?” And he said: ⁵“For this reason, a man shall separate from father and mother, and he shall cling to his wife, and these two shall become one flesh. ⁶And so, now they are not two, but one flesh. Therefore, what God has joined together, let no man separate.”

¹⁴Therefore, I want the younger women to marry, to procreate children, to be mothers of families, to provide no ready opportunity for the adversary to speak evil.

¹Similarly also, wives should be subject to their husbands, so that, even if some do not believe the Word, they may benefit without the Word, through the behavior of these wives, ²as they consider with fear your chaste behavior. ³For you, there should be no unnecessary adornment of the hair, or surrounding with gold, or the wearing of ornate clothing. ⁴Instead, you should be a hidden person of the heart, with the incorruptibility of a quiet and meek spirit, rich in the sight of God. ⁵For in this way, in past times also, holy women adorned themselves, hoping in God, being subject to their own husbands. ⁶For so Sarah obeyed Abraham, calling him lord. You are her daughters, well-behaved and unafraid of any disturbance.

⁵When a man has recently taken a wife, he shall not go out to war, nor shall any public office be enjoined upon him. Instead, he shall be free at home without guilt, so that for one year he may rejoice with his wife.

²⁴For this reason, a man shall leave behind his father and mother, and he shall cling to his wife; and the two shall be as one flesh.

¹⁸And Jacob, loving her, said, “I will serve you for seven years, for your younger daughter Rachel.” ¹⁹Laban responded, “It is better that I give her to you than to another man; remain with me.” ²⁰Therefore, Jacob served for seven years for Rachel. And these seemed like only a few days, because of the greatness of love.

¹⁶She answered, “Do not be against me, as if I would abandon you and go away; for wherever you will go, I will go, and where you will stay, I also will stay with you. Your people are my people, and your God is my God. ¹⁷Whichever land will receive you dying, in the same I will die, and there I will have the place of my burial. May God cause these things to happen to me, and add more also, if anything except death alone should separate you and I.”

¹⁴A house and its riches are given by parents. But a prudent wife is particularly from the Lord.

¹⁸Let your spring be blessed, and rejoice with the wife of your youth:

¹⁰Who shall find a strong woman? Far away, and from the furthest parts, is her price. ¹¹The heart of her husband confides in her, and he will not be deprived of spoils. ¹²She will repay him with good, and not evil, all the days of her life. ¹³She has sought wool and flax, and she has worked these by the counsel of her hands. ¹⁴She has become like a merchant’s ship, bringing her bread from far away. ¹⁵And she has risen in the night, and given a prey to her household, and provisions to her maids.

⁴Charity is patient, is kind. Charity does not envy, does not act wrongly, is not inflated. ⁵Charity is not ambitious, does not seek for itself, is not provoked to anger, devises no evil. ⁶Charity does not rejoice over iniquity, but rejoices in truth. ⁷Charity suffers all, believes all, hopes all, endures all.

¹⁰Who shall find a strong woman? Far away, and from the furthest parts, is her price.

³⁶But if any man considers himself to seem dishonorable, concerning a virgin who is of adult age, and so it ought to be, he may do as he wills. If he marries her, he does not sin.

⁴so that they may teach prudence to the young women, so that they may love their husbands, love their children, ⁵be sensible, chaste, restrained, have concern for the household, be kind, be subordinate to their husbands: so that the Word of God may be not blasphemed.

¹⁸The Lord God also said: “It is not good for the man to be alone. Let us make a helper for him similar to himself.” ¹⁹Therefore, the Lord God, having formed from the soil all the animals of the earth and all the flying creatures of the air, brought them to Adam, in order to see what he would call them. For whatever Adam would call any living creature, that would be its name. ²⁰And Adam called each of the living things by their names: all the flying creatures of the air, and all the wild beasts of the land. Yet truly, for Adam, there was not found a helper similar to himself. ²¹And so the Lord God sent a deep sleep upon Adam. And when he was fast asleep, he took one of his ribs, and he completed it with flesh for it. ²²And the Lord God built up the rib, which he took from Adam, into a woman. And he led her to Adam. ²³And Adam said: “Now this is bone from my bones, and flesh from my flesh. This one shall be called woman, because she was taken from man.”